Material formed from fish-skins and method of preparing the same



G. H. RAUSCH.

MATERIAL FORMED FROM FISH SKINS'ANO METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 30. 1920.

1,372,192. E Patented Mar. 22,1921.

ill

UNITED STA'l EE ENT OFFICE.

enonon n. nausea, or EAST BOOTHBAY, MAINE.

MATERIAL FORMED FROM FISH-SKINS AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

Application filed April 30, 1920. Serial No. 378,023.

To (zlllwhom'it may concern: a

lie it known that I, (lnonon H. ltAUSoH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ol East lloothbay, in the county of Lincoln and ,htate oil Maine, have invented an linprovement in Materials Formed irom lushb lrins and lilethods of Preparing the bame, oi which the following description n conncci'ion with the accompanying drawings, 1S a specification. like characters on the drawings re nesenting like parts.

This application is a cont1nuat1 on 111 part oi my application Serial No. 2%,456, hled July 30. 1918.

llhis invention rel ates to a novel prepared material of the nature of leather and to a process of" preparing the same.

l is an aid to comprehension of my invenlie. I have herein disclosed the same inconncctu l with a particular use thcreofin the n ..m ot a shoe sole or which it offers peculiar ailvantages. I do not, however, i laini in the present application the construction oi? the shoe in itself and do not wish to be unzlerstood as limiting; the scope 0T my invention. as claimed herein, to such a use.

lllv invention will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in coiniection with the annexed drawing wherein Figure l. is a bottom view of. a shoe with the thicknesses of the sole turned back;

his; 2' is a view oi the material whichl use. a prepared section thereol would be seen through the microscope, the figure being verv nuich enlarged over natural size. say l een one hundred andtitty and two hundred. times; and I Fig. is a plan view of the material and correspoiuls to Fig. 2.

its an example 01" the application of my invention I here show a shoehaving a sole one of the intermediate thicknesses of which, as for example the thickness 5. shown in Fin. 1. as interposed between the insole 7 and the outer sole 9, is composed of a layer of dogfish skin cured, as for example by tanning, and preferably further prepared as ierhin described in order to make it particularlv available for use in foot gear.

The layer 5 consists of the whole skin of? the common dogfish of the New England coast. which is also known as grayfish and of which I believe the scientific name to be Somali/s [mam/thins.

scale.

A characteristic feature of this skin is the presence of what I shall call teeth 11, these being, as I understand. placoid scales. These elements 1 l. asshown on a greatly enlarged scale in section in Fig. 2, consist of a basal plate of dentin of dermal origin embedded in the skin and bearing a projecting portion or spine covered with enamel. When a section of the skin prepared for the i'nicroscope is viewed with the naked eye, these teeth have somewhat the appearance of the wires of card clothing although on a much smaller The bases of the teeth appear to be arranged in staggered relation, as indicated in Fig. 3, and as shown in Fig. 2 they overlap serially more or less, providing an almost continuous covering for the skin.

The presence of the teeth referred to has hitherto been thought an insuperable dithculty in utilizing the skin as they catch and prevent the material from being handled conveniently or from being spread out in contact with other materials. As they are very securely attached to the skin proper, efforts to remove them have hitherto not been successful such efforts involved damage to the skin itself. At the same time, the presence of these spines contributes to the wearing quality of the skin and also to the waterproof quality. The latter is so marked that it has been asserted that dogiish skin leather does not breathe.

lle'forrin furthe to Fig. 2, the main portion of the skin appears to embody layers of fibers l3 and 15. the direction of the fibers in adjacent layers being crossed, occasional fibers passing from one layer to another in the manner of warp threads and binding the layers together. This structure provides a very strong and unyielding skin.

In accordance with my invention I cure the skin in any suitable manner. as by tanning. During the curing operation I avoid as far as possible mechanical strain of the skin and strive for a gentle curing operation which will preserve as far as possible the material of? the skin to give a firm and strong product. Thereafter I treat it with a suitable material, preferably of a waterproofing; nature. either by impregnating or impregnating and thereafter coating the skin therewith in such a manner as to provide a thickness of material which will fill i11.the spaces between the teeth. Thi s waterproofing also serves to fill up any interstices in those skilled in the art.

or blunting their coating may varyin purposes to which the skin is to be applied,

the skin itself which may have been'opened between the fibers by the curing process, thus reinte 'ratin its ualitv of resistance to g b t water.

Various materials which may be applied in this manner will suggest themselves to As examples I may mention a mixture of paraifin and resin dissolved, a mixture of paraffin and rubber or other suitable gums, and linseed oil and rubber. If the prepared skin is to be used as herein disclosed in a shoe, the material should be so chosen as to form at least temporarily a proper adhesive joint with the cements which are ordinarily used in shoe manufacture for temporarily holding parts together and which usually lave a basis of rubber. The materials specified answer this requirement.

After the skin has been treated in this manner, I smooth the toothed surface, conveniently by buffing or scraping the same or by a ealendering operation. In Fig. 2 I have shown the coating of waterproofing material 17 filling the spaces between the teeth and the smoothing operation may extend to the line aa, thus, partially removing the teeth 11, as for example by breaking points or bending them down. The presence of the waterproofing layer acts to position the teeth and permits this smoothing or breaking of them without any tendency to break them loose from their places inthe skin itself so as to mar the same. I am thus enabled to prepare a material having a smooth surface and which is therefore convenient to handle and at the same time to preserve with comparatively little change the dentin covering of the skin which adds to its wear-resisting qualities and to its waterproof character.

' The skin prepared in this way is very thin as compared with ordinary animal leathers and at the same time exceedingly tough and elastic. Its natural water-resisting quali ties are very great and these are reinforced the coating material 17 which also masks the sharp teeth andpermits the material to be handled, thus, for example, to be conveniently assembled in a shoe sole with other parts'of the sole. Atthe same time. the re sisting qualities of the skin due to the presence of the teethare preserved and the skin proper as distinguished from the teeth is in no way damaged by any attempt to remove the teeth. From one aspect it might be said that I provide a means masking the teeth and forming as it were a vehicle whereby the natural. dentin layer may be conveniently applied to use and will be protected during use so that its resistant qualities may be, fully utilized. Obviously the accordance with the the flexible plastics specified being well adapted for use when the skin is to be made part of a shoe. Both because of its natural strength and because of its preventing the, passage or soaking of water from one thickness of the sole to another, as from 5) to T or vice versa, the skin serves to hold a shoe in shape and prevents the wear in shoes due to an unevenness or sagging of the sole. At the same time, the wearer is well protected against dampness.

Beside the particular :nlvantages fish skin as described herein. the material is cheap and it is most desirable to utilize these fish in some manner in order to somewhat reduce the numbers thereof. since they prev upon food fishes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure tors Patent is its a new article of manufm-ture. cured dogfish skin having a water-resisting coating applied thereto filling the spaces between the teeth thereof and providing a substantially smooth surface therefor.

As a new article of manufacture. skin as described in claim 1 wherein the waterproofing materiul is of a nature to adhere to cement.

3. As a new article of nlainifacture. cured dogfish skin having the spaces between the teeth thereof filled with a coating of material adapted to adhere to cement and providing a substantially smooth surface therefor.

As a new article of mnnuihcture. a cured fish skin having placoid scales or teeth and having a water-resisting filling in the spaces between the teeth, providing a substantially smooth surface for the skin.

As a new article of manufacture. a cured fish skin having placoid scales or teeth and having a coating applied to the toothed side thereof filling the spaces between the teeth. the ends of the teeth being presented at the outer side of the coating and the whole being smoothed.

6. That process of preparing doglish skin comprising treating the cured skin to fill the spaces between the teeth thereof and smoothing the toothed surface so prepared.

7. That process of preparing fish skins of the type having placoid scales, comprising treating the cured skin with a waterprmiling material filling the spaces between the teeth and smoothing off the toothed surfacev S. That process of preparing doglish skin comprising coating the toothed surface thereof with a flexible plastic and thereafter smoothing the surface and the tips of the teeth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed mv name to this specification.

by lielull 

